Feb 16, 2008

My Sister Can't Boil an Egg

That is true. She doesn't know how to cook. However, she can make anything grow in her garden. I can't.

There was an article on MSN today on how people nowadays are not very much in touch with their DIY skills. How many people do you know can change their tire, use a handsaw and mend clothes by hand? On the other hand, there are youngsters who are experts at personalizing their MySpace pages. My grandma can't do that.

Growing up in the Philippines, it was imperative that us girls learn how to cook, sew, clean house, tend a garden, babysit. Boys have to know how to do house repairs, build things, fish, drive a motorbike. Then Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have to know knots, campfires, basic survival techniques. For our Technology and Home Economics Classes, we had to tend our own kamote gardens, make our own bamboo trowel, learn to weave, crochet, and make baskets. I wasn't the best at home economics. My idea was to be a really smart person, get a great job and hire someone to do all the housework for me. Fast forward 15 years later and I'm in the US with no yaya. Oh, crap.

So I got episodes of calling the Philippines for help because the biko I was trying to cook is turning into something inedible. One time, I put the wrong kind of soap in the dishwasher. And I've had to throw away clothes that shrank in the washer. Being a wife and housekeeper is way harder than I thought it was gonna be. My grandma made it look so easy. And she had so many of us to take care of. I only have a husband and a baby!

I don't want my husband to feel jipped. My grandma said, "If you can't cook/do laundry/clean house well, then your husband might leave you." So I try really hard. But I am nowhere near brilliant in those areas. I'm lucky I married a very patient and understanding man. I am still learning. And he is supporting me all the way. If my cooking fails, there is always panda express.

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